Bag dispenser



July 22, 1969 A. MIERSON 3,456,842

BAG DISPENSER Filed Sept. 25, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. I

INVENTOR. Augustus Mierson Attorneq y 1969 A. MIERSON 3,456,842

BAG DISPENSER Filed Sept. 25, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet FIG. 3

INVENTOR. Augustus Mierson ttorneq 3,456,842 BAG DISPENSER Augustus Mierson, Jason Products Company, 754 Folsom St., San Francisco, Calif. 94107 Filed Sept. 25, 1967, Ser. No. 670,236 Int. Cl. B65h -1/04 US. Cl. 221-33 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The invention comprises the combination of a container, means forming an elongated bag-withdrawal opening in the top or in the side of said container, an inner receptacle having a transverse slot therein at approximately its longitudinal center defining opposed pockets for the reception of opposite ends of a multiplicity of bags, together wtih a supporting member for said inner receptacle and its contained multiplicity of bags removably disposed within said container, and a crown of section on said supporting member over which said inner receptacle with its contained multiplicity of bags is draped and thereby supported wtih said slot of said inner receptacle in alignment with the formed elongated opening of said container and with a central portion of the uppermost bag of the contained multiplicity of bags overlying said crown section and thereby supported in close proximity to the bag-withdrawal opening of said container whereby successive uppermost bags of the contained multiplicity of bags can be individually grasped and individually withdrawn from said inner receptacle and from said container through the aligned slot and elongated opening.

The invention, in general, relates to the art of dispensing goods or articles from a container. More particularly, the invention relates to a device for readily packaging a multiplicity of bags and for readily dispensing the bags individually from a contained quantity thereof.

Heretofore in the art there have been provided a number and variety of types of individual paper or sheet dispensers as well as individual bag dispensers. One of the latter or bag dispensing devices is disclosed in US. Letters Patent No. 2,811,280 and comprises a suspendable flexible envelope having a side opening, when severed along tear lines, through which bags may be individually dispensed from a quantity thereof which are nested in the divisions of an inner support member. The appreciable cost of manufacture of this prior suspendable flexible envelope with its reinforced top and its front and back score lines makes it economically prohibi ive to use, and such prior bag dispenser is subject to further disadvantages such as its likelihood of being torn and its contents spilled by objects passing the suspended envelope and catching upon the edges of the formed opening or by puncturing the envelope in any portion of its appreciably large exposed area, as well as the difficulty encountered in removing or withdrawing individual bags by reason of the support member dropping to the bottom of the envelope and consequent bunching up of the folded bags. The present invention is directed to the provision of an improved dispenser which obviates all of the disadvantages of prior bag dispensers of this general nature and which is readily packed or loaded and readily usable by even the unskilled.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide an improved bag dispenser which presents individual bags in readily accessible positions for rapid dispensing thereof from a contained quantity thereof.

Another important object of my invention is to provide nited States Patent an improved bag dispenser of the indicated nature which is additionally characterized by its capacity to maintain a multiplicity of bags in stable condition without shifting or displacement of individual bags from bag dispensing position.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved bag dispenser of the aforementioned character capable of storing and dispensing a variety of types and Sizes of bags without waste.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved bag dispenser which can be manufactured relatively inexpensively and which can be loaded and reloaded with facility.

Other objects of the invention, together with some of the advantageous features thereof, will appear from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that I am not to be limited to the precise embodiment shown nor to the precise arrangement of the components thereof, as my invention, as defined in the appended claims, can be embodied in a plurality and variety of forms.

Referring to the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a support member constituting one component of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of my invention; this view showing various components of the embodiment in dot and dash lines to indicate their positions within an outer box component.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the component illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of an inner receptacle component of the preferred embodiment of my invention, partThereof being broken away to show a contained multiplicity of bags which are individually dispensed.

While the invention has been illustrated and described herein with respect to individual dispensing of relatively large garbage bags serving as liners for large metal garbage cans, the invention has equal applicability to the dispensing of smaller bags which are used for lining step on garbage disposal metal cans. Moreover, the invention has equal applicability in respect to waste basket liners, linen hamper liners and other liner bags such as those used in hospital refuse cans, manufacturing plants, schools and the like.

As particularly illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the annexed drawings, I provide an inner support member 10 which is made of relatively stiff material such as stiff cardboard and which is capable of standing rigidly within an outer container or box 11 also fabricated of relatively heavy stiff cardboard as presently used in shipping cases and for which the box 11 is eminently suited. Means are provided in the top or in a side of the box 11, such as score lines, not shown, enabling the punching out or striking out of sections of the box to form a bag-withdrawing opening 12 therein extending from end to end or side to side of the box, through which bags 13, such as garbage bags, can be individually dispensed.

In accordance with the present invention, I provide an inner receptacle, generally designated by the reference numeral 14, see FIG. 4, for receiving and holding a multiplicity of garbage bags 13 to be dispensed. As shown in FIG. 4, the inner receptacle is formed with a transverse slot 16 therein at its approximate longitudinal center thus defining a pair of opposed pockets 17 and 18 into which opposite ends of the multiplicity of garbage bags are disposed. In filling the inner receptacle 14, the one ends of a plurality of bags 13 are initially inserted into a pocket of the inner receptacle 14, say the pocket 17, and then the opposite ends of the plurality of bags are shoved into the opposite pocket 18 so that upon the filling of such inner receptacle the bags 13 will lie therein in a flat condition as clearly shown in FIG. 4 of the annexed drawings. If desired, the portions of the inner receptacle 14 which lie adjacent to or bound the slot 16 transversely may be extended through the formed opening 12 of the box 11 and laid back and adhesively secured to portions of the top of the outer box 11 adjacent to or bounding such opening 12, as indicated by the reference numerals 19 and 20 .and by the stippling to designate adhesive cement. Or, a portion of the underside of the inner receptacle 14 may be applied with an adhesive just prior to placing the same on the foldable support member so that the inner receptacle 14 will adhere to and not be displaced from such support member.

The preferred support member 10 of my present in vention is clearly illustrated in development or in fiat, unfolded state in FIG. 3 of the annexed drawings, and it is to be observed that the length of support member 10 preferably is coextensive with the length of the inner receptacle 14. As shown, the support member 10 is scored transversely so as to provide a pair of side sections 21 and 22, a pair of relatively narrow bottom sections 23 and 24, a pair of opposed elements 26 and 27 and a crown section 28, when folded. This support member 10 initially receives the inner receptacle 14 with its contained multiplicity of bags 13 while laid out fiat as in FIG. 3. The support member is then folded on its score lines and with its load of inner receptacle 14 and contained bags 13 to the form shown by dot and dash lines in FIG. 2 and disposed within the outer box 11 before closing the same. Upon such disposal of the support member with its load into the box 11, the sides 21 and 22 of the support member will lie adjacent to the inner walls of opposite sides of the box 11 with the bottom 23 and 24 of the support member 10 seating upon the bottom of the box. In addition, the opposed elements 26 and 27 will be raised in opposed relationship, as shown, as two legs of a V-section and terminating at the top in an apex of the V-section to provide the crown section 28 over which the inner receptacle 14 with its contained multiplicity of bags 13 is draped. This disposal of the support member 10 within the outer box 11, with the load of inner receptacle 14 and bags 13 will present the transverse slot 16 of the inner receptacle 14 in alignment with the formed opening 12 of the outer box 11.

By virtue of this combination of inner receptacle 14 with its contained multiplicity of bags 13 draped over the crown section 28 of the support member disposed within the box 11, successive uppermost bags of the multiplicity of bags 13 may be grasped at their mid-sections by reaching with the hand through box opening 12 and through transverse slot 16 of the inner receptacle 14, and may be individually withdrawn or dispensed from the bag-dispensing opening 12 of the container 11. When the last bag of the multiplicity of bags 13 has been dispensed, the outer container 11 can be re-loaded with an additional plurality of bags using either the same receptacle 14 or a new receptacle having a similar transverse slot 16 therein, as well as re-using the same support member 10, after first removing it from the box 11 and laying it out flat for receiving the successive load comprising an inner receptacle 14 with its contained multiplicity of bags 13. Thereafter, the successive load and the support member 10 are folded as before with the side stitfeners 21 and 22 engaging opposite sides of or inner side walls of box 11 to lend rigidity thereto, and with the bottom sections of the support member again engaging and seating upon the bottom of the box and the stiffener opposed elements 26 and 27 raised to define the crown section 28 over which the receptacle 14 with contained plurality of bags 13 is draped, as before, for individual dispensing of the bags therefrom. Thus, both the support member 10 and the outer bag 11 can be used time and time again for the individual dispensing of bags of the same size. Should it be desired to individually dispense bags of larger or of smaller sizes, larger or smaller support members 10 and larger or smaller outer containers 11 must be employed to accommodate for the different bag sizes.

It is to be understood that the appended claims are to be accorded a range of equivalents commensurate in scope with the advances made over the prior art.

I claim:

1. A bag dispenser comprising a box, means forming an elongated bag-dispensing opening therein, an inner receptacle having a transverse slot therein at approximately its longitudinal center and defining opposed pockets for the reception of opposite ends of a multiplicity of bags to be dispensed, a supporting member for said inner receptacle with its contained multiplicity of bags; said supporting member being adapted to be removably disposed within said box, a plurality of transverse score lines in said supporting member to permit ready folding thereof into a pair of side sections engaging the inner walls of opposite sides of said box, a pair of bottom sections arranged in spaced relationship to one another and seated on the bottom of said box, a pair of opposed upstanding elements integral with said bottom sections, a crown section at the apex of said upstanding elements over which said inner receptacle with its contained multiplicity of bags is draped and thereby supported with said slot of said inner receptacle aligned with said elongated bag-dispensing opening of said box with folded portions of said multiplicity of bags filling the areas between said side sections and said upstanding elements of said supporting member and with a central portion of each of said multiplicity of bags overlying said crown section of said supporting member in close proximity to said slot of said inner receptacle and said elongated bag-dispensing opening of said box whereby successive uppermost bags of said multiplicity of bags can be individually grasped by a hand extending through said aligned opening and said slot and individually withdrawn from said box.

2. A method of loading a bag dispenser with a multiplicity of bags to be dispensed, said method comprising providing a foldable support member of substantially identical length with the lengths of the bags to be dispensed, providing an inner receptacle having a transverse slot therein for receiving opposite ends of the bags with the load of the multiplicity of bags laid out flat therein, laying said inner receptacle with its cont'ained'load of a multiplicity of bags upon said foldable support member while in flat condition, and then folding said support member and said inner receptacle and its contained bags to provide a crown section on said'support member elevated in relation to the bottom thereof, and disposing said folded support member with folded inner receptacle and folded multiplicity of bags within a box having a bag withdrawal opening therein with the central portions of said bags overlying said crown section of said support member and with said slot of said inner receptacle in alignment with said bag withdrawal opening of the box.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,160,412 5/1939 Broeren et al 22152 2,475,657 7/ 1949 Braley 2215l X 1,375,520 4/1921 Kingsley 221-63 X 2,085,649 6/1937 Gluck 22133X 3,195,772 7/1965 Buttery 221--33 3,243,079 3/1966 Rettmer 22163 3,249,255 5/1966 Cohen 22163 3,265,241 8/1966 McColgan 22l47 SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Primary Examiner 

